David Griffin enjoyed a successful run as the Cavaliers‘ general manager, winning a championship in 2016 and guiding the team to three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals until his departure in 2017. However, he tells Jake Fischer of SI.com that the pressure he was under in Cleveland and his fixation on winning made him “miserable” and caused him to lose his love of the game during his time as the Cavs’ GM.
“Everything we did was so inorganic and unsustainable and, frankly, not fun. I was miserable,” Griffin said of building the Cavaliers into a contender. “Literally the moment we won the championship I knew I was gonna leave. There was no way I was gonna stay for any amount of money.”
Fischer’s story paints LeBron James‘ return to Cleveland and his year-to-year contracts as major factors that contributed to Griffin’s stress. The current Pelicans head of basketball operations acknowledged that James’ larger-than-life presence could contribute to what Fischer calls “combustible” conditions in the workplace.
“The reason is LeBron is getting all the credit and none of the blame. And that’s not fun for people,” Griffin said. “They don’t like being part of that world.”
Griffin also theorized that after the Cavaliers knocked off the Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Finals, James’ hunger to win championships may have waned to some extent.
“There wasn’t a lot else for him,” Griffin told Fischer. “I don’t think he’s the same animal anymore about winning.”
While Griffin’s quotes appear somewhat incendiary on the surface, it’s worth noting that James himself has said multiple times since 2016 that he feels he has nothing left to prove as a basketball player. In one interview, he referred to any future accomplishments as “icing on the cake,” and Fischer notes that many people around the league believe LeBron’s top priorities now are to eventually play in the NBA with his son and to own a franchise. That doesn’t mean that he’s no longer driven to win championships, but it provides some added context for Griffin’s comments.
Additionally, a source familiar with Griffin’s thinking tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN that the Pelicans executive had no intention of blaming James for creating an unfavorable atmosphere in Cleveland — he was instead referring to the “media machine” surrounding the four-time MVP. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter) that the joylessness Griffin felt during the Cavs’ title run was related to “the scrutiny and unforgiving pressure” of the job — not to LeBron.
Still, sources close to James told ESPN that they were “shocked” by Griffin’s characterization of the Lakers star. According to McMenamin, a person close to LeBron spoke to Griffin after the SI story was published and Griffin said in that conversation that some context was missing from his comments. Sources tell ESPN that James’ camp encouraged the Pelicans’ top executive to issue an on-the-record clarification.
Here are a few more items of note related to Griffin, the Cavs, and the Pelicans:
- Referring to the roster-building process and the culture in Cleveland, Griffin offered the following assessment, via Fischer: “We won despite our culture to a huge degree. And I knew it. I knew what we weren’t doing. There were so many things during that period of time that I wanted to do differently. If you make everything about, ‘It’s a destination. Damn the torpedoes, I gotta get there,’ that might be the only time you get there.”
- Pivoting to his current team, Griffin told Fischer that the Pelicans – despite being perceived as a rebuilding club – are ready to potentially be a buyer at the 2020 trade deadline if the playoffs are within sight. “People are gonna be like, ‘What the f— are they doing?'” Griffin said. “We’re trying to win basketball games!”
- According to Fischer, some members of the Pelicans’ scouting department had Nickeil Alexander-Walker ranked as high as fourth on their boards entering the 2019 draft. New Orleans selected him with the No. 17 overall pick.
Clarify his statements meaning LeBron got his feelings hurt. I love how some people play the victim card whenever anything negative is said but they can trash anyone they want to trash.
Who has LBJ ever trashed publicly? With regards to Griffin, LBJ lobbied hard for him to be retained by the Cavs. I don’t get the hate towards LBJ. He takes good teams to the finals for 8 years, has been a model good citizen player with mi of the court drama… or at least no non-nba related drama and he gives back to his community in abundance. I think if someone you thought you had a good relationship with and fought for said something similar and when pressed about they tell you it was taken out of context then you’d be right to ask them to explain.
He’s probably upset about the time LeBron called trump a bum
@MZ311 Who cares about his comments about Trumo? That has nothing to do with anything else? This isn’t Russia. You can express your opinion.
What does that have to do with anything? A person’s politics, especially a celebrity, has zero impact on me. LeBron may be one of the greatest players ever but he is not as popular among other players as you want to believe.
Can’t recall.
– David Blatt
IMHO a dick move by Griff. You don’t spill these kind of beans until James agreed is over. Then write a book.
Career is over.
I don’t care so much about the “when” but he’s never indicated he had beef with LBJ and had previously spoken fondly of him. Just seems sort of two faced. And I know he and Rich Paul loved Griff so it’s odd.
Yeah I don’t get it. LeBron’s always been very supportive of Griffin, and it’s almost impossible to imagine what Griffin’s career would be like if LeBron didn’t come back.
His comments just make no sense. He didn’t like the pressure of having to win so much? Yikes, so does he not want to win or does he want to live in the fantasy world where he runs a dynasty but there’s no pressure.
What they were doing was unsustainable? They made four straight finals and won one. Any team besides the Warriors would have given everything for that kind of greatness.
LeBron had already been to four straight finals coming into Cleveland, Griffin knew what he was getting into. If he didn’t want that he should have resigned from the beginning, but it sure is nice to have those LeBron years on his resume.
To be fair to Griff, is there anyone who doesn’t get tired of dealing with LeBron? LeBron’s constant whining, passive aggressive insults, and pandering to the weak eventually rub people the wrong way.
Pandering to the weak?
@RichardHangslow Let me make this clear. I am a Cavs fan first. Kyrie was actually my favorite player on the Cavs. I dispensed the way LBJ left when it was the “decision”. That being said, LBJ really does get way too much blame. He is a phenomenal player who puts 100% effort into his conditioning. He, at one point, put 100% effort into improving his game all-around. He became a decent to at times above average 3 point shooter. He never beccame an above average FT shooter so I’m not sure if that’s lack of effort or just it is what it is.
Secondly, I’m “friendly” with people in his camp and knowing them I think I have a sense of how is circle of friends are like. I have NO “inside information” but the circle you keep is a reflection of who you are and he’s got “rock solid tell you to your face what I think because I’m “hood real” people. By that I mean men who came from nothing and built themselves into successful business people outside of basketball.
LBJ is a lot like MJ, Magic, Bird, etc. He wants to win, win, win and win. And because HE goes to extremes to be the best he can be. Spends $1 mil a year to keep his body at peak condition. Replicates the team gym at his home. Makes a point of being a solid no-drama family man. People like him can’t understand or tolerate people who they feel aren’t as committed. He understands his place in history and he wants to maximize and get as much accomplished while he can do it. He pressed Gilbert to commit to spending whatever amount needed to put the best team on the court.
That being said, history is never going to say, “Oh LBJ lost in the finals because THIS person didn’t do his job or THAT coach called the wrong plays”. Barkley said it best, never will you see a role player like Dan Majerely getting blame for nt play his best or Kevin Johnson for not executing the offense correctly. It’s always on the biggest player. Even though we know LBJ lost the first Finals vs GSW because Love and Kyrie were injured it’s on HIS resume that it was an “L”. Heavy is the head and it is what it is. You can’t be seen as a superstar and escape blame. I think LBJ is so concerned with the narrative that he asserts himself when he feels management or the team isn’t mentally, physically prepared to win win win. He felt that Tristan and Smith were integral parts of the team, and even tho he’s the “silent partner” of Klutch he pressed the organization to overpay for those two because in his mind he just doubled and tripled the value of the franchise and changed the ENTIRE economy of downtown Cleveland so why argue over $$$ when the backend payoff far exceeds the overpay in salary? And it’s a FACT that businesses thrives when LBJ was there and folded when he left. Downtown Cleveland wasn’t the same. 4 0r 5 major hotels opened up during his reign because the city nightlife was lit!
On to Griff. He’s complaining because the moves they made sacrificed the future and wasn’t sustainable? I lived in Cleveland and it intrigued me as to how bad sports has been in the city. They label their frustrations. The Shot, The Fumble, The Drive, The Decision. The first game of the new Cleveland Browns was vs their enemy the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was driving downtown right after the game and the Cleveland fans were soooo happy. Downtown hotels and bars emitted a noticeable THROB of excitement despite the fact they had their @ss whipped 44-0. That’s how much Cleveland loves their teams. Browns, Indians and Cavs.
The fact that Griff was unhappy because it was “win now or bust” is mind-boggling. He was part of a team that had not had the joy of a championship in over 50 years!!! And you can’t find happiness in that??? I lost a bit of respect for Griff. All LBJ wanted to do was win win win. He NEVER publicly blasted a teammate. But making comments that “they need more play-makers” is a honest statement. Does it matter if a player says it rather than a coach or team owner?
I’ma Yankee fan. I’m used to winning. If the Yanks go 140-22 but lose or don’t even make it to the WS then the wins didn’t matter. THAT is the attitude you should have. Brian Cashman is getting ROASTED for not acquiring a SP despite the Herculean job he and the team have done to have one of the best win/loss record despite injuries to almost every player on the team including Stanton, Severino, Andujar, Betances missing almost the entire season. But THAT’S what comes with the job.
Griff did a great job in Cleveland and he’s got off to a great start in NO. He has to understand that at the end of the day, TEAMS AND FANS PUT WINNING FIRST. I’m not suggesting be reckless but if a team has a window to win, meaning they go deep into the playoffs every year and it’s centered around 1 key player then you do what you do because I as a Cavs fan have NO problem with the current rebuild because I had a chance to celebrate the Cavs winning their first ever and the city going bonkers because they FINALLY had a chance to feel what I’ve felt with my favorite baseball and football teams, the Yanks and the Giants. I so so hope the Knicks will get it right too because we’ve suffered so long.
Look at the Clippers. They had a chance to put together a team capable of winning a chip and the owner went all-in to do it.
Chris Broussard is reporting he spoke to Griff this morning and reported Griff said it was taken out of context and that the suffering was not directly about working with LBJ it was more about the media scrutiny, the demands to get better and the pressure from an owner who made a promise to LBJ, as part of his return, to be willing to go far above the lux tax to build and retain a team that can win multiple chips. That’s part of the job and it’s the price you pay for trying to build a dynasty. There’s an unspoken commitment between a great player and the front office. I will give 110% effort. I will stay in the best shape possible. I will make sure not to have any personal off-field issues that might distract the team from winning. I will be a model citizen. Your end of the bargain is to cut checks. Find the best players. Make the most of a bloated salary payroll. Griff would NEVER…EVVVVER be viewed as a good GM if it was NOT for LBJ. LBJ made it possible to get a Kevin Love. Who cares that they had to give up what was then thought as the second coming of Jesus in Andrew Wiggins. How did that turn out? Griff wasn’t exactly the greatest amateur talent evaluator. He whiffed on Anthony Bennett. He was against trading Wiggins for Love. LBJ came in and erased all of his mistakes and love him or hate him LBJ new what the team needed to win. For that, I’m ok with having bloated contracts for a couple of years. The NBA is not comparable to MLB. It’s very hard to maintain a championship roster and still draft quality starters and have roster flexibility. Teams like the Lakers, Pistons, Celts of the last 30 years have all had to tear it down and rebuild once their key HOF players got too old or retired. GSW have staved off most of those problems because they hit on every single one of their picks it seems.
But now, the team is in serious lux tax territiory and may struggle to have the depth they once enjoyed. You thing their GM is lamenting being in that situation? Heck no.
LBJ made Griff’s career and put him on the map where he’s considered to be one of the best GMs. Said that he can’t enjoy the process of winning without the agony of the rebuild once it’s over.
sorry this was so long.
One point, it was the previous GM Chris Grant who drafted Bennett. . . but it was on Griffin’s advocacy, not Grant’s. . . Griffin was the only Cav exec who interviewed him, who could get a feel for him! Then Grant was fired partly from that choice, and Griffin replaced him. Hmm. I’ll stop there.
@x%sure Griffin was VP of Basketball Operations since 2010 and as you stated, he had a major say in the draft choice so I attribute the blame for that pick too.
“He gets all the credit when we win…” Look at the Cavs with Lebron in 2009, then without Lebron in 2010. Look at the Cavs with Lebron in 2017, then without Lebron in 2018.
That’s why he gets all the credit.
Cavs 2017 got through a joke of an eastern conference then got swept in the finals
Cleveland Cavaliers four-time EC champions.
Not Bulls, Bucks, Brooklyn or Boston (recently).
…and then a year later couldn’t even get to the playoffs in that same Eastern Conference. So what’s your point exactly?
Why would you think that was for you?
Though about the OP. . . If a basketball season must be identified by a single year, most people would use the second one, the one with the playoffs in it.
Poor BRON BRON the Prima Donna. Griffin wasn’t hateful he spoke the truth in his opinion. Ego BRON has always been as big a cry baby as Durant.
You’re the cry baby by coming here to vent it
“The reason is LeBron is getting all the credit and none of the blame. And that’s not fun for people,” Griffin said. “They don’t like being part of that world.”
lmao Has Griffin never turned on ESPN or gone online? Blaming LeBron is almost as old as LeBron’s career
Espn blaming lebron??? Never once seen that
Not being sarcastic either espn does nothing but suck off lebron
They do, but much of that suck is whatever story they can make a story of, good or bad. Whatever they can sell to keep viewers in their recliners.
@kingbeas Absolutely untrue. Colin Cowherd, Skip Bayless, Jason Whitlock make a point of bashing LBJ. Just as he has his fanboys like Shannon Sharpe he also has just as many haters. I’m listening to the sit-in for The Herd and he’s really taking things out of context and attributing things that people say as if it’s evidence supporting the narrative that life with LBJ on your team was a problem solely caused by him.
Either people forget or weren’t around but teammates will tell you being on a MJ team was rewarding but he was nowhere near as good of a teammate as LBJ. But this is sports. These are men. You don’t have to be friends to win.
Griff said nothing wrong and look at Lebron’s white knights coming to defend him. Everywhere he goes the teams are worse after he leaves than they were before he got there. Look at LA they had pieces for the future and now they’re gonna have to start another rebuild in 2-3 years al because he can’t win without another superstar. And Griff is 100% right there’s not that animal/burning desire in Lebron to win. He made it perfectly clear when he chose the Lakers over every other team that was interested in him that he valued his post career more than winning.
Why should players care what happens to teams after they leave? Don’t you realize how silly it is to say that after going to four finals in four years and winning a ring that LeBron also has to make sure the Cavs are winners when he leaves? You’re joking right?
Also funny Griff says LeBron doesn’t have the desire to win when Griff is the one that said he didn’t like the pressure of having to win.
The last 8 years prior LBJ played for two teams that sucked BEFORE he got there, proceeded to taking each team to 4 convective Finale and winning 3. He leaves and they suck again. That’s a perfect example of the circle of life. Things begin, and eventually come to an end. As far as your worries for LA , the ONLY goal of the team constructived is to try and win in the next 3 years LBJ is under contract. Are you more concerned about maintaining assets or winning an NBA title?
Comments like this just show the pure ignorance of fools, and calling this BS out doesn’t make us a “white knight”. Everywhere he leaves the team gets worse BECAUSE he left. When the best player leaves your team you get worse. I know thats a really hard concept to understans so its just easier to hate and say “look they are worse!” And no the Losers young core was not very good and to say that was in a better position to win than Lebron/AD is just hilarious. And Lebron has no desire to win yet it only took the Lakers 1 year to go from lottery to finals favorite? I guess your too busy hopping teams to really pay attention
Griffin should leave LBJ well alone & try to focus on the train wreck that he has got in his hands in NOLA… at least ain’t pressure to win there as they will not compete
NOLA has one of the best young teams in the NBA in a long time. While LeBron’s team better win this year or they will be years before competing again. If you don’t think NOLA has a good young upcoming team you don’t know the NBA.
@arc89 Train wreck is the wrong word. NO has a bright future. However, Griff has never been GM of a team w/o a “LBJ” and he has to know that with a guy like Zion, he better win or it will be a problem.
And guess what? EVERY TEAM has to be rebuild at some point so your saying that means NADA. ZIPPO. It’s the way of the NBA. By nature, you’re signing veterans and role players to build depth and a bench. Once LBJ retires, maybe AD re-ups or maybe he goes elsewhere. Maybe they have a year or two where they have to carry bad contract. But if the TEAM wins a title then it’s all worth it.
James gets craploads of blame and personal criticisms. Even his supporters (i.e.,me) put his flaws out there. Griffin needs to do some walkback.
“That might be the only time you get there”: He says if you go hard for a title, you might only get one.
1)That was the demand in Cleveland. With that attitude I’m glad James kept a fire lit under his ass to keep him properly aimed. Those 1+1 contracts were apparently necessary. With these comments– essentially admissions– James is all the more to be credited.
2) The Cavs could easily have won twice in those four years IF management HAD aimed for doing so and “damn the torpedoes” MORE. All they had to do was get an asset for the BRK #1 (or from trading Irving). But no, boss Gilbert wanted to be “sustainable”. How’s that working.
3) The culture was not about development but about titles that is true. Nothing wrong with that if you have the horses for it. The purpose of development is to get to that point. See: Raptors.
Griffin complained about James privately and I’m sure James knew. I mean I knew just from the Plain Dealer online forums. The shocker is that he went public. Why?
Griffin can really pull some stunts. For one, I’m pretty sure he is the Irving-list leaker. I don’t yet get the purpose of this one.
2) The Cavs could easily have won twice in those four years IF management HAD aimed for doing so and “damn the torpedoes” MORE. All they had to do was get an asset for the BRK #1 (or from trading Irving). But no, boss Gilbert wanted to be “sustainable”. How’s that working.
I have to disagree here. Gilbert went to LBJ/Paul and said “Hey look. If you commit to staying past this last year of your deal then we will do “x,y,z”. They wouldn’t give him that commitment so it made it near impossible to get another star to join them and they had to consider what was the best move. They didn’t JUST get the #1 pick. They got IT, Crowder and IT and felt that was the best mix to stay competitive. In this case, I completely understand why they made the trade.
These decisions were beyond Griffin’s tenure but they were consistent with his philosophy, presumably sustainability in priority, as opposed to the “damn the torpedoes” philosophy that made him miserable.
Gilbert took the Boston offer over some sweet ones by Spurs & Bucks.
With the James window closing, and those assets acquired of no help to the goal, but yet tradable– I said trade them & go get another title! Altman did that about halfway, trading the players and looking at KembaW & LouW for the 2018#8 but nor moving on it.
If all that pick gets you is Dinwiddie, Carroll & Cunningham (to hound Durant) for the pick and salary (like TT or Smith), do it! (They did offer the lower first for Dins).
@x%sure Yes, I wasn’t attributing the trade with Boston as something Griffin had anything to do with, although I think he had some role in the behind the scenes decision with Kyrie. I think the rift between Gilbert had to do with whether or not to trade Kyrie after he came to them right after they won the title.
Griffin wasn’t with the Cavs when they traded Kyrie. He knew Kyrie wanted to leave the offseason after winning the title but that was Griffs last year too. I heard. but not sure, that the one of the reasons he left was because Kyrie voiced his desire to be traded right after winning the title and Gilbert was willing to move him and try to keep the team with LBJ at their peek but Griff didn’t want to trade Kyrie because Griff wanted to keep him in the fold so if/when LBJ didn’t return it wouldn’t be a full blow up and they could re-calibrate around Kyrie.
Griffin did not look very hard, probably just gauging his value. Griffin’s connection with Irving was Griffin’s ace-in-the-sleeve in his battles with James & Gilbert.
Griffin had one more year there before James was gone and he would have a secure power base with the new #1, Irving! And of course Gilbert wanted the fast rebuild.
Enjoy your KoolAid?
He was drinking the KoolAid but didn’t know the flavor!!
Lol give him credit then. Magic only lasted a year with king diva
@danthemilwfan Uhhh….no. He didn’t stay a full year with LBJ and NEVER did he site LBJ as the reason. He stated his beef was with the front office and Pelinka.
But see how that narrative goes. I was listening to The Herd and I forget the buy in for Colin and he used Magic’s quitting as a supposed example of working with LBJ. I thought that was a hatchet job. Magic was the one who recruited LBJ and he never made a negative comment about him.
How did the cheap owner escape griffin scalpel? The owner didn’t think he needed a GM…wouldn’t pay griffin…he left. What is the upside for griffin to take on LBJ? Keep your diary while you are working…write a book later.
@hoosierhysteria Dude read between the lines. You really think Gilbert was being cheap with Grifin when he’s spending tens of thousands in lux tax alone? You just read Griff say he wasn’t going to return for ANY amount of money so CLEARLY the narrative that Gilbert simply didn’t want to pay him a fair salary isn’t correct.
That’s probably my biggest beef. Today’s players have to tolerate 24/7 sports reporting that creeps into off-court conversations about things like a players psyche or attitude or whatever. Jordan and Magic never had to deal with that kind of stuff back then. I’m not saying it didn’t exist but NOOOOO where near the way it is now where the Steven A Smiths and Skip Bayles seem more about their ratings and brand and focus on things not directly related to scores and x’s and o’s. Some players try to clap back but more know it’s an unwinnable battle. Once a narrative has traction it’s almost impossible to rebuff and when ppl try to they get the whole “oh your just trying to stand up for your guy”. Don’t become the news, just report it. How does a loser like Jason Whitock really know the psyche of a player they don’t really have an intimate relationship with or rapport?
Your narrative just got undermined by Griffin himself, but don’t let that bother you.
Griffin needs to get over himself. His only NBA accomplishments are as Cavs GM, when he was limited to the inorganic moves that made him so miserable. The championship the Cavs won under his watch may have been because of or despite those moves, but, in either case, that championship is the only reason he has his current job. Nobody really cares whether a GM or HC is having fun; they’re just not that important.
Exactly. And although I’m not a native to Ohio I guarantee you that, if asked, would you sacrifice 3 or 4 seasons during a rebuild sanz LBJ for just 1 NBA title it would be a resounding HELL F’N YEAH!!.
Pretty sure most of Ohio would’ve traded Kyrie, Delly, Drew Carey, The Great Serpent Mound and the All-State guy who batted clean up for that title.
Lebrun James lost credibility when he made a spectacle of his leaving the Cavs & going to Miami. It was classless & selfish. No “I” in TEAM! Bad Boys forever….There’s am “I” in Isaiah !
@davidkaner He lost ZERO credibility haha. And I moved to Miami the same year as he did and I was ROASTING him about the Decision. There were ppl in his own camp that were against him doing the “decision”. But at the end of the day, he had to leave home, go to Miami and learn how to win from Wade/Riley and once he returned he NOW had the cache to draw other players to Cleveland that he simply didn’t have before when he was their the first go round. Miami made him a better player. His commitment to physical training came from being around Riley who preached conditioning as head coach of the Knicks and Miami. He was the leader in name only the first stint and became a real leader of men when he came back. I’m still not a LBJ fanboy but my respect level rose dramatically once I saw the whole picture. He was just not getting good counsel when he did the “Decision” and when he took that add out in the Akron Beacon Journal saying goodbye to the Akron area and not Cleveland. The Big Z took an add out in the Cleveland Journal and if I remember correctly it was before LBJ placed his ad. It just made LBJ look salty because he did it in the ABJ and said “Akron” instead of saying Cleveland or North-East Ohio. Clearly he was mad because of how Gilbert and fans reacted to his departure. Had he done it with a bit more sensitivity and thoughtfulness then I think fans would still be upset but not with as much vitriol. A break up is a break up but that “Decision” was like your girl breaking up with you live on TV and then telling the world she was dating your best friend, and oh yeah, you have a small penis too. It was just devastating and unexpected to most.